North Florida Writer
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Life Around Us
  • Contact
  • MY BOOK PAGE

Pleasure Horses: Another Potential Casualty of Mass Development

11/20/2017

0 Comments

 
PictureClearcutting: Not quite the picture they publicly represent.

Horses, beautiful horses, enjoyed and used by many Floridians for pleasure. They're not just a joy to the well-heeled, but also to the many middle class owners who see them as part of the family.  And they are at risk just like those of us who have small rural farms and homesteads and also own horses.

Those of you who know me and with whom I have worked heavily in the Plum Creek, now Weyerhaeuser, rezoning wars in Alachua County can attest to my sincerity on the matter. We worked hard to achieve a result that many thought was impossible, yet the heat is never off in such matters and that is the case here. Now, reasonable development where it makes sense is a very good thing, but usually developers and those who support them decide instead to go for the overkill. It's what they do; they want to maximize their profit.


Well, that's their right, but small property owners have their rights, too, and one of those is maintaining vigilance to fight for what is right. Politics is a numbers game and when people rise up with numerical strength, they can win any battle, regardless of the cause. It just has to be done within the rules of society to make it supportable. Anarchy never ends well. But developers, usually well heeled and with deep pockets, use money to drive their cause, regardless of true merit, very much like lobbyists work with state and federal legislative bodies. The big guys win and the little guys get crushed.

You might also know that my wife and I love horses. They are beautiful creatures and they can't be kept on a cookie cutter lot, yet those pushing for development just figure that we can be rezoned out of our lifestyle and existence by buying off decision-makers. The rezoning itself isn't the culprit; it just starts the process.  But the raised land value and taxes, the new regulatory requirements and the loss of lifestyle accomplishes what they want. No one thinks of anything but money in this scenario and yet they always find that in the end the money isn't sufficient for what was deemed a great idea.

Thankfully to date, we have had elected officials locally who haven't taken the bait, at least not yet. And while I don't agree with them on many other issues, after all we are frequently miles apart ideologically, I do wish them well and will continue to work with them to maintain an equitable lifestyle opportunity in this county.

One of the things I do is write about real life and, in this instance, I've written a book which describes my life as a "Horse Husband." You see, my wife, a trained equestrian, is my "Horse Lady" and if I wanted her to marry me I had to agree with her motto, "Love me, love my horses."   And that story ties into my current commentary for we've lived here in Alachua County fort thirteen years, hence my involvement in the "land wars."

Now nearly seventeen years after meeting her, after the first nearly four ended with the loss of lifestyle in our previous location, I decided to write a book about my experiences in the horse adventure. I call it Confessions of a "Horse Husband," subtitle Life with my "Horse Lady." It doesn't really go into the land war issue, but I am using it to show what kind of man or woman needs to be involved in protecting the horse-loving lifetstyle.  After all, Florida is a huge producer of horses, one of the top states in population of these wonderful animals as well, and  not only wealthy property owners are involved in enjoying these animals.  It's the little guy who will be destroyed first. It always is.

I hope you might check out my work; I think it might explain what makes me tick and why I am committed to everyone in this area being able to live their current lifestyle without being destroyed. You can read a sample without commitment and it's available in both paperback and with Kindle Books (Kindle Unlimited). The links follow.

Amazon Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1973307200

Kindle Store: ttps://www.amazon.com/Confessions-Horse-Husband-Life-Lady-ebook/dp/B077BSTND5/


0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    ABOUT ME

    Hi, I'm James, a writer who studies nature,  animals and all things created by God. I also write from time to time about what I think God expects of us.  I would love to hear your thoughts on these subjects. I hope you enjoy my comments.

    Archive

    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012

    Picture

    Categories

    All
    America
    American Sports
    Animals
    Armed Forces Day
    Conservatism
    Doctorpatient0717615167
    Elections-2016
    Florida
    Florida-politics
    Freedom
    Freedom-of-speech
    Geese
    God
    Gods Glory0546cd6883
    Health Care
    Honor
    Integrity
    Jesus Christ
    Koch-brothers
    Leisure-time
    Love
    Military
    Nature
    Primaries
    Proverbs
    Safety
    Savior
    The Future
    Top-political-donors-list
    Tyrannical-government

    RSS Feed

Thanks for contacting northfloridawriter.com.
Photos used under Creative Commons from Arian Zwegers, trvlto, thomas pix, taberandrew, Justin A. Wilcox, Glyn Lowe Photoworks, ckay, phalinn, curtis palmer, bnpositive, oddsock, HooLengSiong, jespahjoy, illustir, ljlphotography, Out at Bob's, The Labour Party, ljlphotography, Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com, eli.pousson, JasonParis, Fibonacci Blue, wht_wolf9653, bsabarnowl, ` TheDreamSky, Ken_Hoffman, dsearls, NCinDC, James Byrum, DonkeyHotey, Waiting For The Word, cliff1066™, possan, dpape, David Holt London, akeg, Waiting For The Word, Glyn Lowe Photoworks, MilitaryHealth, yukali, infomatique, goforchris, cliff1066™, Wootang01, dctim1, Donald Lee Pardue, LizMarie_AK, campdarby, CedarBendDrive, bill85704, faeparsons, TMAB2003, cliff1066™, Rennett Stowe, KOMUnews, cliff1066™, chris.huggins, USDAgov, mat_walker, gruntzooki, DonkeyHotey, ljlphotography, Elvert Barnes, Paulsasleepwalker, facebook.com/snapshotsofthepast, foto3116, Miller_Center, digitonin, BostonCatholic, Watt_Dabney, jepoirrier, EpicFireworks, derekskey, cletch, DonkeyHotey, KOMUnews, DonkeyHotey, ravensong75, Alan Cleaver, Francisco Diez, hermmermferm, cod_gabriel, Marxchivist, Fibonacci Blue, dbgg1979, “Caveman Chuck” Coker, David Barrie, rjs1322, Just Another Wretch, Keith Laverack, Waiting For The Word, whoohoo120, AFS-USA Intercultural Programs, Brett Jordan, yisris, Michael Hodge, Waiting For The Word, MilitaryHealth, doceggman, AlmazUK, taberandrew, cliff1066™, krossbow, shinya, The Jewish Agency for Israel, kudumomo, “Caveman Chuck” Coker, cliff1066™, johntrainor, emilio labrador, cliff1066™, EraPhernalia Vintage . . . (playin' hook-y ;o), **emmar**, Mrs. Gemstone, Andrea Westmoreland, Jeff Kern, Waiting For The Word, Abdulsalam Haykal, Donald Lee Pardue, roberthuffstutter, Dougtone, b1mbo, DonkeyHotey, paularps, kaatjevervoort, Simon Davison, BONGURI, Marion Doss, ex_magician, Bergfels, Brett Jordan, Tim Evanson, Art4TheGlryOfGod, Jeff Kubina, sskennel, DonkeyHotey, VirtKitty, Rodrigo_Soldon, resistealeau, MilitaryHealth, edalisse, Mervi Eskelinen aka tasselflower, Kaz Andrew, nitram242, Andrew Aliferis, uitdragerij, Paul J Everett, Joe Shlabotnik, Jeffrey, Harry Thomas Photography, Tim Evanson, U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Northeast Region, Ron Cogswell, Nationalmuseet, escapedtowisconsin, Michael Cory, DonkeyHotey, timsamoff, mrbillt6, bnilsen, themonnie, dichohecho, Waiting For The Word, technochick, cliff1066™, RTD Photography, Randy Wick, Enokson, Rising Damp, DonkeyHotey, Waiting For The Word, SteveNakatani, Fovea Centralis, Dru Bloomfield - At Home in Scottsdale, lisaclarke, Mulad, Roswell_UMC, Bengt Nyman, U.S. Embassy New Delhi, FreedomHouse2, SuperFantastic, Rory Finneren, Alaskan Dude, Larry1732, Mr. T in DC, ikewinski, Ivy Dawned, RLHyde, Waiting For The Word, heartajack, dyogi, dailymatador, David Paul Ohmer, Pleuntje, Leonard Bentley, midwestnerd, Donald Lee Pardue, DonkeyHotey, Oli-Oviyan, PatrikWalde, flamesworddragon, The U.S. Army, Zach Heller Photography, DonkeyHotey, EvinDC, Marine Corps Archives & Special Collections, Ronnie Macdonald, Gerry Dincher, The U.S. Army, Jeff Belmonte, DonkeyHotey, Texas Military Forces, jim.greenhill, Ben Sutherland, the Original Jeff Martin, Loz Flowers, CBP Photography, spbpda, OCVA, Hot Rod Homepage, brianholsclaw, dozodomo, quinn.anya, KOMUnews, wtstoffs, Leo Newball, Jr., lilli2de, dmott9, Justin A. Wilcox, sören2013, boboroshi, newagecrap, CoreBurn, simminch, ninahale, EvinDC, Mister Awesome, HeyRocker, beggs, Donald Lee Pardue